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 Jade Rabbit, named after a lunar goddess in traditional Chinese
mythology, landed to domestic fanfare in mid-December, on a mission
to do geological surveys and hunt natural resources. The moon buggy began experiencing "mechanical control abnormalities"
late in January, when entering its second 14-day lunar night, a
period that exposes the surface to extreme cold. Scientists had said the outcome of the repair efforts would be
unclear until the rover emerged from the period of darkness, during
which it is supposed to shut down.
 But after awakening this week, Jade Rabbit is still not functioning
properly, China National Radio said, citing Pei Zhaoyu, a spokesman
for the lunar probe program. "It's awake. We have a signal. But the problem still hasn't been
resolved," Pei said, but gave no further details. Experts are still working to fix the rover, the official Xinhua news
agency said. China has been increasingly ambitious in developing its space
programs for military, commercial and scientific purposes. But it is
still playing catch-up to established space superpowers the United
States and Russia.
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The Jade Rabbit, and the Chang'e 3 probe that delivered it, marked
the first "soft landing" on the moon since 1976, before which both
the United States and the Soviet Union accomplished the feat. The United States has successfully landed four rovers on Mars, two
of which are still active. The decade-old Opportunity recently found
evidence that life-friendly fresh water once pooled on the red
planet's surface. (Reporting by Michael Martina;
editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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